Port Newark 
Terminal 



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BY 



JAMES M. REILLY 

Secretary Board of Trade 
OF THE City of Newark 




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Port Newark 
Terminal 




BY 



JAMES M. REILLY 

Secretary Board of Trade 
OF THE City of Newark 






FEB 8 1916 



Port Newark Terminal 



To move — to advance — to improve — to go 
ahead spells Progress and progress is the 
watchword of the hour. 

In the field of commerce and manufacture, 
new lines are being formed and new trade 
routes are being established, and to the City 
that has vision and for-esight to anticipate what 
these changes mean, the future holds out 
wonderful possibilities. 

Newark — A World's Great Centre 

In the shadow of New York for many years 
a world's great industrial centre of which the 
City of Newark is the heart has b-een over- 
looked by the country at large, but henceforth 
this great industrial centre will begin to loom 
large upon the horizon of iAdftstrial and com- 
mercial life. ' 

Within the Newark zon-e there are thousands 
and thousands of factory plants, large and 
small, employing several hundred million of 
dollars of capital with an army from two to 
three hundred thousand workers, manufactur- 
ing a diversity of product unequalled per 
capita at any other point. 

The Newark zone comprises the r-eal sub- 
stantial land terminal of the Continent. It is 
an integral section of the Port of New York, 
but it has been handicapped because of the 
imaginary stat-e line dividing New York from 
New Jersey, which line has blinded the eyes of 
capital and served as a prejudice against the 
development of its land terminal facilities. 
Through the Newark zone eighty per cent, of 
all transcontinental freights are obliged to pass 
and on arrival at the shores of the Hudson in 
order to reach New York it has been neces- 
sary to employ expensive floatage and light- 
erage service, involving perhaps one hundred 
million of capital to make deliveries destined 
for export, adding to the cost of the service 
millions and millions of expense upon the coun- 



4 PORT NEWARK TERMINAL 

try at large, which could have been conserved 
and saved if the prejudices referred to had 
been overcom-e and adequate terminal facili- 
ties afiforded on the New Jersey side of the 
harbor. 

The indifference of the past with its burden 
of cost upon the public has at last b-een realized 
and there are two factors at work which will 
unquestionably result in great changes taking 
place in and about the Port of New York. 

Reclamation of Meadow Lands 

The first is the action taken by the citizens 
of the City of Newark in authorizing a work 
of magnitude in the reclaiming of several 
thousand acres of tide marsh lands located on 
Newark Bay, and the public ownership of a 
great area of this land, part of which has al- 
ready been filled in and improved and made 
ready for commercial and industrial purposes, 
in connection with a series of piers which will 
be constructed for the accommodation of ves- 
sels engaged in the ocean carrying trade. In 
connection therewith railways have been con- 
structed for the movement, handling and trans- 
fer of freights between the tracks of the car- 
rier and the vessels. 

The second movement consists of an action 
directed by the Board of Trade of the City of 
Newark against the continuance of what is 
known as the "Free Lighterage Privilege" in 
and about New York Harbor — a privilege 
which has militated against the progress of the 
land terminals fronting on Newark Bay, New 
York Bay and adjacent waterways. 

Free Li^htera^e Privilege 

In the establishment of freight rates all this 
section of Northern New Jersey have paid 
the same rate for service on all freights from 
western and southern points as New York, 
Long Island, Brooklyn and other points 
included in the Lighterage Zone while not 
sharing in the lighterage privilege. While on 
the other hand, on all freights from Eastern 
points an added charge of three cents a hun- 
dred-weight has been exacted by the carriers. 

This inequality in rates has served to build 



PORT NEWARK TERMINAL 5 

up the Brooklyn and Long Island waterfronts 
and has prevented the development of the Jer- 
sey shore. It is estimated that the people of 
North Jersey have paid annually from fifteen 
to twenty million dollars under this unjust dis- 
crimination, and it is anticipated that when the 
application is filed with the Interstate Com- 
merce Commission protesting against a con- 
tinuance of the free lighterage privilege that 
a new rate zone will be established under which 
the natural advantages of the New Jersey dis- 
trict will be recognized, and that the discrimi- 
nation will be discontinued. 

Port Newark Terminal 

Men of vision see a great future in store for 
Newark and its immediate surroundings and 
it has become a firm conviction that the New- 
ark Bay shore front will in the course of a 
few years become a great centre of manufac- 
tures and commerce and that the Port of New- 
ark Terminal will become one of the great sea- 
ports on the Atlantic. 

There are ten miles of waterfront to be im- 
proved on Newark Bay and it is part of tl?e 
general plan for this development work to 
comprehend a series of water channels extend- 
ing into the marsh lands for a distance of one- 
half to one mile to provide for the future 
growth of commerce and industry desiring to 
avail itself of the advantages of rail and water 
facilities for the shipment and receipt of 
freights. 

It is also a part of the plan to comprehend 
the building of piers one thousand feet or more 
in length to accommodate ocean vessels for 
the transfer of freights direct from vessels 
to cars, or vice versa. 

Newark Bay Development 

In the near future it is possible that the Gov- 
ernment will recognize the strategical advan- 
tage of Newark Bay as an inland harbor for 
the smaller class of war vessels, in connec- 
tion with the approved plans for the cutting 
of a system of intra-coastal canals, particu- 
larly the canal to connect the Delaware with 
the Hudson, and it is more than surmise to ex- 



6 PORT NEWARK TERMINAL 

pect that the Rivers and Harbors Committee 
of Congress will continue to favor the devel- 
opment of Newark Bay, because of its impor- 
tance as a part of the Port of New York, and 
because of the present-day need of additional 
wharf facilities to accommodate the increase 
in maritime traffic. 

The channel depth in Newark Bay has been 
increased, through appropriations made by 
Congress within recent years, from twelve to 
twenty feet at mean low water, and the Corps 
of Engineers of the United States Army are 
now engaged in making surveys under the 
direction of Congress, to ascertain the cost of 
dredging the entire area of the Bay to a uni- 
form depth of twenty feet; also to ascertain 
the cost of dredging additional channels along 
the eastern and western shore to permit of the 
development of the shore frontage on plans 
similar to that which is being carried out in 
connection with the Port Newark Terminal 
operations now being developed by the City. 

Newark's Rank 

Newark today ranks well up among the great 
centres of industry in America. Its position, 
based upon the value of its manufactured 
products annually, is eleventh; while in point 
of population it occupies fourteenth position. 
Its area, exclusive of the meadow section, is 
about sixteen square miles, and if, through 
annexation of adjacent territory, it would take 
in its suburban neighbors to cover an area 
equal to that of Cleveland or Buffalo, it would 
probably rank ahead of both cities in point 
of population, financial wealth and industry, 
all of which is possible within a very few 
years. Consolidation of the cities bordering 
on Newark Bay, all closely built up to each 
other, would immediately create a city of over 
one million inhabitants and with industries, 
financial strength and commercial life equal 
to, if not ahead of, Baltimore or St. Louis. 

Port Newark Terminal Project 

The Port Newark Terminal Project is a 
work undertaken by the City of Newark with 
the object of providing facilities for the loca- 



PORT NEWARK TERMINAL 7 

tion of industry, for the building up of com- 
merce and for making Newark a seaport in 
reality. The plan for this work has been ad- 
vocated by the Newark Board of Trade and 
under special Act of the Legislature of the 
State the municipality has been authorized to 
expend upwards of two million dollars in the 
construction of the first unit. 

Comprehended in this work of construction, 
which is now approaching completion, is a sys- 
tem of dockage extending a total length of 
4,500 feet, 2,500 of which extends inward 
from the shore line and borders full length 
on a water channel 400 feet in width at the 
bottom, with a depth of 20 feet at low water. 
Giant piers 1,200 feet in length, as at present 
planned, are to be of greater length than any 
in the East and are intended to accommodate 
the largest class of vessels afloat. 

Wharf Equipment 

The system of docks it is designed are to 
be equipped with the most modern appliances 
for the handling and transfer of freights ; 
each dock will carry double standard gauge 
railway tracks, on which electric traveling 
cranes will operate. Facilities are so planned 
as to be within reach of the long arm of the 
cranes for handling the heaviest class of 
materials. 

In addition to the water channel now com- 
pleted, there has been reclaimed an area of 
five hundred acres, and the work contemplates 
the reclaiming of five hundred acres more, title 
of which has been secured by the City. This 
area is so plotted as to provide the very best 
in the way of advantages for all classes of 
business concerns, whether commercial, indus- 
trial or maritime. 

In the reclaiming of this area of land a fill 
of six feet above mean low water has been 
made. Streets and connecting highways are 
being constructed and facilities for sewerage, 
drainage, water supply, fire protection and 
transportation are being planned and carried 
out in connection with the completion of the 
work. 

This work is unusual in character and is in 
keeping with the immense growth of industry 



8 PORT NEWARK TERMINAL 

and commerce taking place in Newark and in 
its immediate environments. The whole plan 
has been devised by City Engineer Morris R. 
Sherrerd, assisted by James C. Hallock, under 
the direction of the Board of Street and Water 
Commissioners, which body is now engaged in 
formulating definite arrangements under which 
leaseholds can be effected. 

Leases for Land 

They have under consideration at the pres- 
ent time the appointment of a Harbor Super- 
visor, who will have complete charge of the 
rental of sites. The i^asis on which privileges 
will be granted to occupants will include leases 
running for a term of twenty-five or more 
years. It is estimated that the rental value 
will scale from five hundred to seven hundred 
and fifty dollars per acre, according to loca- 
tion; all leases to be subject to a sliding scale 
of increase at periods of readjustment, possi- 
bly each five years ; the increase not to exceed 
Fifty Dollars per acre, according to the in- 
creased value of the increment. A condition 
of the lease will provide that all improvements 
on property may be purchased by the City, at 
its option, at an appraised value, on the termi- 
nation of the lease, and that all abandoned 
improvements will revert to the City. 

Railroad Facilities 

In connection w'ith the work going on at 
the bay front, the work of construction of new 
arteries for travel from built-up sections is 
being rapidly pushed to completion, and a mu- 
nicipal railroad, part of which is already con- 
structed, will be connected up with the Penn- 
sylvania, the New Jersey Central and the Le- 
high Valley Railroad systems. This connec- 
tion will undoubtedly be extended in the future 
to the Erie and Lackawanna Railways. 

Each city block, as laid out on the com- 
pleted plan, has been designed with the idea 
of meeting the requirements of all sizes and 
conditions necessary in the location of indus- 
trial plants with certain reservation for com- 
mercial and terminal uses. These blocks or 
squares will have an area of about ten acres 



PORT NEWARK TERMINAL 9 

each, which will be sub-divided as small as 
one-third of an acre in such a way as to afford 
to each every advantage provided in connec- 
tion with the general scheme. 

The wider streets will be those running 
toward the long central dock, and along these 
will be laid the railway tracks. A portion of 
the cross streets will be used for factory sid- 
ings for plants too small to have tracks or 
sidings laid within their own buildings. The 
private factory sidings will be furnished by 
the city at cost, while the sidings on the cross 
streets referred to above will be worked along 
the lines of regular railroad freight stations, 
receiving and delivering freight without cost, 
giving an efficient and prompt service. 

Trolley Facilities and Electric Power 

A plan for the transportation of labor is 
included, and before many days will be added 
as another link to the chain of progress. It is 
expected the Central Railroad of New Jersey 
will commence immediately to build a passen- 
ger station on the site, which will give service 
to the centre of Newark, to Jersey City and 
New York City. Arrangements are under way 
with the Public Service Corporation of New 
Jersey for an extension of a trolley line to the 
development. 

Arrangements for light and electric power 
will be made with the Public Service Electric 
Company, at rates applying for ordinary city 
service. 

The terms of the lease will absorb the tax 
on the land. A water pressure of thirty pounds 
for low service, fire protection will be assured. 
The water rates for the present will be the 
same as applicable in the city, with a prospect 
of reduction in the near future for large quan- 
tities. 

Newark's Advantages 

One of the big advantages that Newark has 
is its water supply, which comes from the 
mountains of North Jersey and is furnished 
through mains by gravity system with 62.5 
square miles of watersheds, with nine reser- 
voirs storing nearly ten billion gallons, giving 
a daily available supply of fifty million gal- 



10 PORT NEWARK TERMINAL 

Ions and being used at the rate of 102 gallons 
per day per capita. 

In its sixty-seven public schools, fifty-two 
private and parish schools, eight business col- 
leges and two academies it is foremost in edu- 
cational facilities ; it has nine national banks, 
eight trust companies, five saving institutions 
and two hundred and seventy building and 
loan associations. Of cliurchcs, it has 181, 
divided, Presbyterian 35, Roman Catholic 32, 
Methodist Episcopal 21, Baptist 24, Episcopal 
17, Lutheran 8, Jewish 10, Reformed Dutch 8, 
Congregational 3, and other denominations 22 ; 
with 12 hospitals and four daily newspapers. 

That this great project has been executed 
most successfully as a purely municipal under- 
taking is no less flattering to those under whose 
direction the work has progressed than to the 
citizens as a whole. For, without the support 
of public opinion, the large sums required to 
adequately carry out the various phases of the 
comprehensive scheme would never have been 
provided. By reason of this harmony of 
thought and action the City of Newark can 
today point to a bay front constructive develop- 
ment that in ultimate results will have no rival 
in the United States. 

The City of Newark has begun the serious 
business of telling the industrial world of 
America what it has to ofifer in factory sites, 
and in water and rail shipping facilities. And 
what better argument need be advanced than 
to merely point out the already congested con- 
dition of New York Harbor, where the limit 
has practically been reached of its dock and 
shipping capacity and with wharfage charges 
almost prohibitive. 

Panama Canal and Bar^e Canal 
Commerce 

It is the psychological time for this work 
to be completed, as great events portend ; wit- 
ness the completion of the Panama Canal and 
the immense changes that will come to pass 
through a wider use of this waterway for the 
transportation of merchandise freights between 
Atlantic seaboard and Pacific seaboard points, 
a change which will eventually create a dis- 



PORT NEWARK TERMINAL 11 

turbance in industrial and trade relations be- 
tween all points in the United States. 

Another factor in favor of the success that 
will follow this improvement will be the com- 
pletion of the Barge Canal connecting up the 
Great Lakes, which carries the commerce of 
the Continent to Buffalo and thence to the 
Hudson, a commerce which will crowd and 
overcrowd an already congested harbor and 
which will make imperative the work of pro- 
viding additional terminal facilities. 

With the acceptance and commencement of 
the work by Government of constructing the 
proposed intra-coastal system of canals advo- 
cated by the Atlantic Deeper Waterways Asso- 
ciation and part of which has already been 
approved and sanctioned by the War Depart- 
ment, further possibilities are in view of a 
character which will tax the capacity of New- 
ark Bay and tributary waterways, even after 
every available foot of harbor space in and 
about New York Bay has been developed and 
utilized. 

This whole section comprising the Newark 
Bay Port District can anticipate a continued 
progress in all that will go to make up a won- 
drous commercial and industrial centre, a cen- 
tre of commerce which will in years rival every 
other great centre in the world, for the reason 
that it has more waterfront mileage with ade- 
quate land for all kinds of uses and because it 
is not restricted in area, and for the further 
reason that its back lands reach out to and 
beyond the Orange Mountains, rising in suc- 
cessive terraces which affords residential pos- 
sibilities unrivaled by any other section in the 
world. 

JAMES M. REILLY. 

October 20, 1915. 



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